Welcome to Writersday! Okay, it was supposed to be a weekly post, but I have recognized my limits and realized there is no way I can make a post about writing (or possibly any post) once a week. So now Writersday will be the last Saturday of the month! (For now, anyway.)
This Writersday, I want to talk about limitations. The limitations we put on ourselves, on others, and the limitations others put on us (or, at least, we feel they are putting on us).
As a writer, I have felt the heavy weight of limitations. Every time someone asks me about my writing, I feel they are asking only because they are judging. I postponed my dream for years because of those constraints and the fear of being judged. Then I realized I didn’t care what anyone else thought. Once I “got out of the closet” so to speak, I realized many people actually supported me! And those that didn’t? There’s something wrong with them, obviously.
Hey, going after your dream is never easy. There’re plenty of quotes to remind us. For me, I love my job (of non-writing), but I also love my writing. I have to find a balance (getting up early, sometimes staying up late, and sometimes just being too darn tired to write). Having a full time job does make marketing much harder (time, effort, and apprehension), but there’s no explanation (at least right now) of how it feels when a scene comes together.
Writing is an art, like painting, drawing, photography, music, or any other art form. We all feel judged and adjudicated when it comes to our art. Some people will like it, and some will never understand it. That’s when I have to do like Neil Gaimain said and “Trust dreams, trust your heart, and trust your story.” Trusting isn’t always easy, but, at least when it comes to our writing, we have to trust ourselves.
I don’t write to make a ton of money. If I did, maybe I’d be writing these awesome books that get a lot of attention. That’s usually the luck of the draw, anyway. No, I write stories that make me happy, that I, myself, love to read. What writer wouldn’t love to be the next Nora, King, or Koontz? And many bad news out there for authors about publishers closing down doors or sales being too low to sustain their business. So my tip for the day is to write what you love. If the money doesn’t follow, you’ll still feel fulfilled.
That’s my opinion, anyway. I hope it helps!